Fasting plasma somatostatin in alcoholic liver disease.

Fasting level of somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI) in plasma was measured by a highly sensitive radioimmunoassay in 36 patients with alcoholic liver disease verified by histopathology (10 patients with steatosis and 26 with cirrhosis of the liver). The median value of SLI was markedly elevated in patients with steatosis of the liver as compared to normal subjects, P less than 0.01, while the median value of SLI in the cirrhotic group was even higher, P less than 0.05, as compared to the steatotic group. Correlations of SLI to se-bilirubin and p-coagulation factors 2, 7 and 10 were significant, P less than 0.001 and P less than 0.01, respectively, whereas no correlation to plasma insulin could be elicited. These results suggest that in alcoholic liver disease fasting plasma somatostatin is correlated to the degree of hepatic failure and indicate that the liver is an important site for clearance of portal vein somatostatin.